Check my spec please

Man of Honour
Joined
28 Nov 2007
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Following on from this http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18312745 thread I have decided on the way forward and would be grateful if some kind folk could check my basket.

The background is me using a broken motherboard on a media PC as an excuse to upgrade everything :rolleyes:

As background I have an AMD 64 X2 HTPC which is in need of a new motherboard, as it was showing its age anyway I am going to move accross my Q6600 setup into this. I hadn't fully thought it through in the previous thread and was going to shoe horn all of that into the media case, but I was missing the fact that the HTPC is going to be located in a media cupboard (under the stairs;)) that I am setting up and so fan noise is not a problem, as such I will be using a spare midi tower case I have and putting in the

Q6600 complete with watercooling and overclocked at 3.6
4gb DDR2 and ATX mobo as is
1 of my 8800gtx
550w PSU from media PC (can't remember the brand but it is quality/branded)
Blu ray, TV card, HDDs and sound card from media PC
Have done a PSU check and it's in, under the wire though

so that is sorted, nothing to spend and I will end up being able to game on the media PC too if needed (47 inch 1080p)

so my 'work' pc needs sorting and as I am out of touch, could someone have a look at the following basket for me please:


ocbasket.jpg


I will use my remaining two 8800gtx in sli for now with a GPU upgrade to follow. I have an enermax 1000w PSU in the case, which is a coolermaster cosmos (modded with a case window and extra fans). I will want a decent overclock and it seems people are getting this without water cooling so will keep the loop on the Q6600 (would need new waterblock if I used it with the new processor).

PC will be mostly used for work but clearly OC is aimed at gaming. Also some occasional photo and video editing. I run three screens.

Currently running Vista 64 but would intend to add an SSD and win 7 soon (may be at same time)

I really am out of touch with hardware at the mo so would be grateful for any suggested changes to the basket.

Budget can head up within reason if needed.
 
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Soldato
Joined
15 Aug 2010
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8,745
Location
N. Ireland
good point, any suggestions for a switch? I'm not clued up on current gen ram at all so don't even know if this is decent / limiting in terms of OC?

timings/speeds have very little effect if any when overclocking with a Sandybridge chip.

do you really need 16GB?

you either go for a low-profile 8GB kit, or get a closed-loop watercooler if you want to keep the 16GB.

8GB - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-095-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

cheaper cooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

closed-loop watercooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-AN&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
28 Nov 2007
Posts
12,736
go for the retail version of the processor, has an extra 2 yrs warrenty over the oem one.

good tip, didn't realise that

timings/speeds have very little effect if any when overclocking with a Sandybridge chip.

do you really need 16GB?

you either go for a low-profile 8GB kit, or get a closed-loop watercooler if you want to keep the 16GB.

8GB - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-095-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517



cheaper cooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

closed-loop watercooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-AN&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

Probably don't need 16gb, I have 4gb now and that's fine most of the time but I do tend to run a lot of programmes (at mo for work I currently have open / am using photoshop, excel, word, ppt, mappoint and a bunch of smaller things). I guess 8gb would be a healthy jump. I have watercooling at the moment that I can change waterblock on if necessary, but if I'm unlikely to notice the additional 8gb then there is no need.

Do all the decent air coolers prohibit using all the ram slots?
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
28 Nov 2007
Posts
12,736
timings/speeds have very little effect if any when overclocking with a Sandybridge chip.

do you really need 16GB?

you either go for a low-profile 8GB kit, or get a closed-loop watercooler if you want to keep the 16GB.

8GB - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-095-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

cheaper cooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-001-GD&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

closed-loop watercooler - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-005-AN&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

Blimey that is cheap for the watercooling kit, cheaper than changing the block on mine, so may be worth having that and then both PCs are watercooled. Then I can go overkill on the RAM.

Have you used that cooler? Has a pretty small rad but no idea how much heat the sanybridge CPUs chuck out so may be OK I guess. Likely to be better than good air cooler still I guess.
 
Soldato
Joined
4 Feb 2003
Posts
10,999
Location
telford, shropshire
the antec & corsairs are said to do a decent job, main advantages seem to be a bit quieter than most air coolers, and with them sitting tight onto the processor they don't have issues with the taller memory.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
28 Nov 2007
Posts
12,736
the antec & corsairs are said to do a decent job, main advantages seem to be a bit quieter than most air coolers, and with them sitting tight onto the processor they don't have issues with the taller memory.

cool, might go for one then, case is already modded for hoses so should be an easy installation

Any thoughts on the motherboard choice? I need SLI (although plan a GPU switch in the near future and would like to keep ATI options open), run raid 0+1 and want overclocking ability. I haven't gone for high end because my current Asus board which was mega expensive has been a bit of a let down with issues with its raid controller and networking and as such haven't too much faith in mega money mobos.
 
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